Students at SMSU were asked to judge writing from age groups 3rd to 12th grade for the annual Creating Spaces Writing Contest. This is the 15th annual Creating Spaces Writing Contest and
students such as Hanna Vos, freshman and Professional Writing and Communication major at SMSU, enjoyed being able to participate in judging.

“Each document is judged (using a rubric) by two student judges,” said Vos. “The individual scores are added together; after a professor reads the writing, the three pieces that get the highest scores are the ones that are published.”

Students were asked to stay at least 30 minutes and were encouraged to stay all 3 hours. Judging took place on Feb. 5 and 6 from 7-10 p.m., in BA 235. Due to campus closing on the Feb. 7, the
third judging session was held on the Feb. 13.

“I chose to participate as a judge because I was interested in reading young writer’s works,” said Vos. “I appreciate Perceptions because it offers a place for young writers to be published and I wanted to show my support by donating my time. “Sometimes it was hard to judge. The last thing I ever want to do is hurt an aspiring writer’s feelings. However, with constructive criticism comes growth. My favorite part was being able to read so many people’s amazing works. I was so impressed by all the hard work that obviously went into it all.”

Judges came and went throughout the night, but students were able to judge around 30 documents in the time they spent. Judges’ names will be included in the acknowledgements section of the Creating Spaces Anthology.

The Creating Spaces Award Ceremony on Sunday, April 14, from 4-5:30 p.m. in the SMSU Upper Level Conference Center.